Road to Hope convoy to move on at last

Continued from: http://palywely.blogspot.com/2010/11/road-to-hope-tenth-day-at-egyptian.html

The Road to Hope humanitarian aid convoy, which includes five vehicles containing aid from Bristol, is boarding a ship from Libya to Egypt today (Wednesday) and hopes to sail tomorrow (Thursday). The convoy group launched a last-minute fund-raising appeal last night for over thirty thousand pounds to pay for the ship and news on Wednesday evening is that this has been answered by a group of supporters in London.

After a month on the road having departed from London on 10th October, Road to Hope humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza has been stranded on the Libyan-Egyptian border for over two weeks witnessing a wrangle with the Egyptian authorities. Egypt is insisting that all aid for Gaza must arrive at the port of Al-Arish near the Gaza crossing, either by sea or by air, and refuses all overland crossings of its territories.

Just a skeleton crew have remained with the vehicles in Libya towards the end of the long wait. Some of the Bristol convoyers have had to return to the UK for work or personal reasons. But some have pledged to return to the convoy once it is on the move and to join it for the final leg of the trip from El Arish to the Rafah Crossing into Gaza.

Sakir Yildirim of Fishponds who has been on all the previous Bristol convoys and was on the Mavi Marmara says “I will drop everything to return to the convoy as soon as I know it is on the move. I want to be part of the team when we drive our aid into Gaza”.

Others who returned to Bristol are considering their plans but have spoken positively of the trip so far. Such convoys may be less likely in future for two reasons: there have to be less expensive ways of getting aid to Gaza; and, at least 50% of the raison d'etre of the convoys being publicity and the world's news media being perfidious as it is, hence zero publicity being generated.

However, there is another flotilla in the planning stages for early 2011.